Independent - of Facts

most self-proclaimed 'independent' voters are not supporters of ideas, only of what they call 'common sense'

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And now, on to the important news of the day.

If nothing else, this Jan. 6 hearing is exposing Trumpies as hypocrites, which even they can’t now deny. Their conspiracy theories are being debunked as each conservative witness acknowledges the truth about Donnie.

‘What good is it?’, you may say, if all minds are made up?

That’s not really a good question. Why are you so cynical?

Hard as it is to believe, there are a great many people in this country who see themselves as ‘independents’. Most of them subscribe to the ‘common sense’ school of thought, also known (ironically) as ‘follow the crowd’. These people generally don’t like to think about issues in depth. They prefer to test the way the wind is blowing, and follow. This allows for some bad choices, but occasionally a good one.

My uncle, for instance (hi, Aunt Nancy!). He had his own reasons for liking or disliking certain candidates, not necessarily based on policies. Like many people, he voted for Obama against Romney, but liked McCain against Obama the first time. I’m sure there were reasons that made sense to him, but there isn’t a huge gap in policy positions between McCain and Romney, so it was more a personal instinct thing, I’m guessing. Do you feel you can trust the candidate? But no ‘why?’ Just common sense.

Hillary, for all her accomplishments, didn’t inspire trust in these voters. That’s why she only won by 3 million votes, which apparently isn’t enough.

I remember Nixon-ites being the same way. Everyone knew Nixon was a little nutty (he was given the sobriquet ‘Tricky Dick’ long before Watergate), but he was VP for 8 years and hadn’t screwed that up too badly, so these independents figured, after the chaos of the 60s, that he was essentially an OK guy. Humphrey, his opponent in ‘68, was burdened with Vietnam, LBJ, and an insurgent third party campaign that took away the Democats ‘solid south’, not to mention the Chicago police riot (I was there), and still almost won, because, as election day neared, people remembered Nixon was a little nutty. Then, when he behaved himself the first 4 years in office, he cruised in ‘72. And yet, when the revelations came out about Watergate and ‘dirty tricks’, no one was shocked or surprised. He was acting a little nutty, and got caught.

Ross Perot was a pre-Trump foreshadowing of the ‘common sense’ approach to choosing a President. ‘Maybe he knows something. Maybe he’s on to something.’ Independents liked him for a while, and maybe if he’d advocated pussy-grabbing or hating immigrants he’d have won. The problem is, he was kind of a funny guy. Not funny as in ‘saying funny things’, but funny looking and speaking. And independents weigh that in their choices as well. Think about all the Presidents we’ve elected in the past 60+ years. Usually the most attractive, physically, wins. People with no real opinions are easily seduced. They say they want a ‘regular person’, but they really want a celebrity. Bigger than life. Bernie is about as regular a guy as there can be, but Biden is more of the old school type, like the Central Casting version of a president.

It all comes down to this ‘common sense’ theory. When people who are so inclined talk to each other, they don’t really have any well-thought out opinions, and certainly no vision or solutions. All they have is ‘gut feelings’. Sadly, their usually bloated guts are mostly unreliable. But they think that makes them ‘independent’…when the truth is they are super-dependent. Dependent on what other people think, or what other people might think if they stray from the norm. Dependent on which way the wind blows. Dependent on politicians to tell them what they should want, rather than figuring out their stance on issues by researching, listening to experts, or understanding both sides of an argument.

Ever notice how often McConnell says ‘the American people’ said such-and-such, or think such-and-such, as if the whole country were some kind of monolith. He knows it’s for the benefit of those who need to know which side they should be on. It’s the ‘common sense’ position…must be, since ‘the American people’ say it.

So, right now, while Trump has (and will always have) the support of the hard-core right, that is a comparatively small group. It’s the indies who swing one way or another when the wind blows. They may think there’s some kind of partisan hanky-panky going on in these hearings, but soon common sense will tell them something they already knew…Trump was and is a scam artist. They knew all along, and yet the wind was blowing them to the ever-present fallback position: fear. Better not choose the ‘woman’, maybe she’s Tammy Wynette after all. She might outlaw pick-up trucks, or beer. She’s out to avenge her husband. She’s part of a conspiracy to take over the world. It’s common sense! Which is ironic, in that Bill didn’t behave anywhere near as badly as Donald, yet one was never forgiven and one was never not forgiven.

All this will change soon. It’s not yet in the wind, but it’s in the air.